When you’re training sometimes it is clear to see how beneficial having someone else there to train with can be! At least it is for me, if I’m on my own in the gym, I will push myself as far as I feel I can physically go, and then some. The same applies to when the gloves are on, if you’re not on the verge of your limits you’re not working hard enough. However, sometimes it is so beneficial to have a mate or training partner with you, for numerous reasons! To begin with, if you’re in the gym and you’ve got someone spotting you than you mentally feel more comfortable and driven to push your limits and hit those new personal bests, because the fear of being stuck with a weight on you that you can’t lift is gone! It’s a similar case in the boxing gym with the gloves on. There’s only so much you can do on your own, sure you can use the bag or some weights but if you’ve got someone there to do some pad work with than you can get in some of that crucial technique practice that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to do alone! In addition to this, it works both ways they’re not just there to help you, you’re also there to help and push them! With someone there to shout at you and say you’re not a quitter you will have the drive to push further and break those boundaries! Check out how beneficial having a pad work or sparing partner can be be with this quick video right here!

Last time we covered the basics and how to build from the ground up with basic jabs and punches. This week we’ll build up on that and concentrate on hooks and uppercuts. As said last week, they key to learning these quickly and effectively is to start slow, forget about applying power to the swing and slowly build up the speed, adding the strength and power as you go.

If we start with the uppercut, the best way to get to grips with this punch is to take up the basic boxing stance discussed last time. Following from this you’ve got to consider what hand you’re throwing the punch with. If its your leading hand, your jab hand, that you’d drop your arm and rapidly bring it up with the aim of either sustaining a blow to your opponents stomach or head. As you raise your arm up you’d twist your front foot out slightly but quickly as it allows you to twist your body more, allowing a faster and more powerful punch. Its the same with your other hand although it’ll most likely be much more powerful, given that you twist the back foot out to allow the body to twist providing more power to the swing. An uppercut is arguably the most important punch when you’ve got your opponent against the ropes and you can unleash a barrage of blows to both the stomach and head while they try and protect themselves. Even if they put their arms around you to limit how many punches you can throw, it’ll be easier than a hook to successfully land a hit as you can go up the middle between the arms and hit critical areas.

Similarly to this, a hook is another type of throw that can have effective results on an opponent. It follows the same principle of the uppercut, if you’re swinging with your jab hand, you swing your arm out and twist the corresponding foot to allow more strength in the swing, if it’s your rear hand than you swing forward while twisting the rear foot. It’s best to try and keep your elbow bent at about 90 degrees, keeping your hand at shoulder height while throwing a hook as this will allow you to target either the body or the head, which ever is less protected and more vulnerable.

To show how effective uppercuts and hooks can be, here are 10 expert examples of world champion boxer Mike Tyson showing how they can be applied to devastate and knockout any opponent, arguably much more effective than any jab or cross: